May 2004

Full issue May 2004 in PDF format

New Structure Helps Department Adapt to Change
Sometimes the structure of an academic department can hinder its ability to adapt to changes within a discipline or shifts in funding priorities. To increase its flexibility in the face of such changes, Kansas State University’s chemistry department adopted a structural model that has several advantages over the traditional departmental structure.

Making the Right Hiring Decisions
Robert Levin says if you want to make successful hires in an academic setting you have to have a clear understanding of the “performances” you need in the position you filling. Otherwise all the effort you expend on searching, interviewing, testing, and decision-making will simply turn into “ritual hiring” — in Levin’s words, “a set of rituals that make people feel good but don’t predict.”

Improving Instruction Through a Faculty-Driven Initiative
During the 2000-2001 academic year, a group of faculty from the School of Physical Activity and Educational Services in Ohio State University’s College of Education began meeting regularly with the school’s director to find ways to enhance instruction. From these meetings came the idea for the PAES Instructional Instructional Enhancement Initiative, a faculty-driven series of instruction-related activities, which includes workshops, a book club, a quarterly newsletter, and seminars.

Bulletin Board
“Paths to the Professoriate: Strategies for Enriching the Preparation of Future Faculty”; Recruiting Graduate Students;Online Education Research Primer; “Speaking of Higher Education: The Academic’s Book of Quotations”; “Leaders of Color in Higher Education: Unrecognized Triumphs in Harsh Institutions”

Department Chair Best Practices
By Don Chu, Ph.D.
Probably the best public relations move a chair can make is to insist that 1) a real live person answer the department phone, and 2) that that person be friendly, informed and helpful.

Book Review: Assessing Academic Programs in Higher Education
Higher education is in the midst of a cultural change. When once it was sufficient for faculty members to determine what they wished to teach and then proceed with their plans, now an increasing emphasis on accountability is shifting the focus to measuring what the student has learned.